Having just concluded their season with the furthest postseason trek in school history, Santa Gertrudis Academy High School’s varsity softball team had numerous players make the All-District 32-A team.

Ashley Ritter was the unanimous selection as 32- A’s Most Valuable Player. Ritter also claimed the district’s Offensive Most Valuable Player accolade. As a batter, Ritter sported a .487 average, belted five home runs and batted in 26 runs this season.

Coming off of a very successful freshman campaign, Pitcher Carla Noel was voted as Newcomer of the Year. Noel went 18-4 this season, struck out 192 batters, had an earned run average of 0.25 and only allowed 52 hits and 29 runs. As a hitter, Noel hit .471, smacked five home runs and brought in 26 runs.

Catcher Danielle Gonzalez made the first all-district team. Gonzalez batted .442, launched three home runs and batted in 25 runs.

Infielders Ashley Flores and Christina Escobedo were voted into the first all-district team. Flores hit .482 this season and batted in 22 runs. Escobedo hit .373, popped a home run and brought in 24 runs.

Outfielders Megan McDonald, Miranda Gonzalez and Maranda Gonzalez were picked for the first all-district team. McDonald hit .397 and batted in nine runs. Miranda Gonzalez batted .411 and brought in 28 runs. Maranda Gonzalez hit .333 and batted in 31 runs.

Bailey Cernosek was selected for the second alldistrict team as an outfielder. Cernosek hit .091 and brought in four runs.

Olinda Salazar was honored as the district’s Coach of the Year.

Making the district’s allacademic team were Leslie Witt, Adriana Moreno, Ashley Ritter, Christina Escobedo, Carla Noel and Danielle Gonzalez.

The Lions went 25-5 overall this season and won the District 32-A title with a perfect 14-0 record. Academy eliminated Brackett in the area round of the playoffs, Woodsboro in the Region IV 1A quarterfinals and North Zulch in the region semifinals. Academy lost to Mart High School 5-1 in the region final last week.

Salazar commented on her team’s overall season.

“The girls did very well this season and I am so proud of them. They started the season determined to win district out right and they did,” Salazar said. “These girls worked hard, never gave up on me or themselves while having that goal in mind. We didn’t quite reach our final goal but still went further than we have before and already have our sights set on next year.

Salazar is expecting threefourths of this year’s team back next season.

“They will have this season’s playoff experience behind them and that will make them more confident,” Salazar said. “We are moving up to 2A next year and that will be an additional challenge for all them but they are not intimidated by that. They welcome the challenge because they know each other very well, know each other’s quirks, so they will only get better.”